Kaleidoscopic Doggerel

 It's that time of year...letting Nostalgia have its say😘

Kaleidoscope of hope-hued gems

And disappointment’s diadems

Soft crown the brown and silver hems

Of Bygone’s burnished sweep

Time’s pattern of felled petals pressed

Like pastel-parchment, mist caressed

Into a heart-shaped treasure chest

Filled with what none can keep

Save between fingertips of thought

Like wisp of wind on moonbeam caught

Where hug and kiss soon ties a knot

With hands gentle, yet gruff

Because nothing can stay the same

All things return from whence they came

Where what we hold is but the flame

That twilight’s train will snuff

Darling, this daring doggerel

Of balladry where flowers fell

Like rainbow-shards to tune the dell

Taunts-haunts the bard’s keen ear

Torn between touch and letting go

Where summer green and winter snow

Melds into a tender tango

Only the heart can hear

This warp, weightless yet full of years

This galaxy of star-eyed cheers

And vagary dissolved in tears

…laughter and longing’s ilk

Throbs like the sob of lowered dark

Silent, save for dog’s far-off bark

And lone leaf strumming moon-beamed arc

With blades of steel and silk

© Janet Martin